Farrar gunning for first Grand Tour stage win since 2011 Tour de France

It’s been over three months since he picked up his most recent victory, stage four of the Tour of California in Santa Barbara, and Garmin-Sharp rider Tyler Farrar is feeling the need to clock up another as soon as he can.

The American sprinter missed out on the Tour de France this year, being passed over for selection. He appears not to be as quick as he used to be against the top sprinters in the sport, but is determined to clock up another Grand Tour stage win.

He believes that today’s fifth stage of the Vuelta a España could be suited to him. It’s a tough, lumpy race, with constantly up and down roads, and Farrar is hoping that this will help burn off the pure sprinters and give him the foothold to nab a welcome win.

“On paper it’s not a true sprinters’ stage but it can finish with a bunch sprint,” he said prior to the start today. “Hopefully a small group will go and sprinters’ teams will bring it back. There are 3000 metres of climbing in total today though!

“My form is good. There was nothing for me in the first few days of the Vuelta but I’ve worked for the days I’ll have my chances.”

However according to directeur sportif Johnny Weltz, his self-belief has been a bit shaken. He will need to overcome that to get his full morale back, and so notching up a first win in the race could lead to more.

“Farrar is our man for the sprints but he has a lack of confidence like all sprinters who haven’t won for a while,” said Weltz. “Garmin-Sharp is also not a team completely dedicated to a sprinter like others with Cavendish or Greipel.”

Farrar was second on a stage of the Tour de Wallonie and has, since then, notched up third place finishes on stages of the Tour of Denmark and the Eneco Tour. His last Grand Tour stage win happened in the 2011 Tour de France; for the 29 year old, that’s a statistic he wants to change as soon as possible.